Episode 65

full
Published on:

9th May 2024

Rebel without a Pause: Chuck D at Northampton Community College

Today on the show we have Andrew McIntosh (a.k.a. DJ ARM 18) and DJ Cap Cee to tell us what it was like to bring the legendary Chuck D of Public Enemy to Northampton Community College last month. Chuck D spoke for more than two hours and fielded questions from students at NCC's annual Humanities Lecture, organized by Andrew. Your HHMCs were able to meet and greet Chuck D before and after the talk, which was a thrill!

Topics discussed:

  • The process behind bringing Chuck D to NCC
  • Selecting NCC students to come on stage to ask questions
  • Takeaways from "A Conversation with Chuck D"
  • Chuck D's impact on all of us
  • Behind the scenes of the evening
  • Cap Cee spinning Public Enemy before and after the event, even songs with strong lyrics

Also check out:

Lehigh Valley Live: Chuck D just wanted to dance: NCC talk revisits rap revolution and return to visual arts roots

50 Years Down the Line

Cap Cee on Instagram

Credits

Hip Hop Movie Club is produced by your HHMCs JB, BooGie, and DynoWright. Theme music by BooGie. Follow @hiphopmovieclub on Instagram!

Mentioned in this episode:

Disclaimer

This episode contains some occasional adult language.

Transcript
Speaker:

Welcome to Hip Hop Movie Club.

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One week ago today, as we were recording,

our man Professor Andrew Macintosh,

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aka DJ ARM 18 brought the legendary Chuck

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D of Public Enemy fame to the campus

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of Northampton Community College

in Bethlehem for a discussion.

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This was the capstone event

for the college's:

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theme, 50 Years Down the Line

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A Celebration of Hip

Hop History and Culture.

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Did I get that right?

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That's right.

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Okay. With us also now is our man, D.J.

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Cap Cee who was on the wheels of steel

before and after the event.

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Yes, sir. JB, take it away.

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Yeah. So first off. Holy crap.

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Guys, Chuck D in, you know, blue collar

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Bethlehem, free with meet and greets.

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What a night.

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Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.

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as I was saying, you're making Bethlehem

the epicenter of hip hop.

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I mean, this is on the heels

of a successful event

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with bringing Grandmaster Caz and Cold

Crush Brothers a couple months back,

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and it was the event

where Chuck D was just

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widely attended, and he was so gracious

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to, like, stay behind and meet

and greet people afterwards.

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Pictures

shaking hands, chatting with people.

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So thank you

for bringing him to the masses here.

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listen, 100%. You're welcome.

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Thank you for for being a big part of,

supporting it and spreading the word.

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And of course, of course,

we were fanboys like, oh my God.

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so first question are,

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how did you decide to target

Chuck D as a speaker for this event?

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I was I put together

a list of people, and, you know, I,

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I was bouncing ideas off of,

you know, heads like Cap

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and so on where we would just kind of

rattle off people we knew that

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were on the circuit or we know

would be an interesting interview.

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couple of factors came into

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play and that was like, you know, budget

and so on.

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was first

and foremost kind of drove things.

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I was, I was I want to say that Questlove

was probably someone that I was kind of

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first thinking about, but,

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I learned early on through the,

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the booking agencies

that we were working with that

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his availability is, is, is is nil

and his cost is huge.

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So that was kind of out of the question.

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and we, we kicked around other guys.

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I would I don't know

if you remember those conversations.

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I remember Wolf was in town, right?

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We started kicking around back when,

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when he was visiting and

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I think we were also

thinking about mass appeal to,

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you know, like, there's tons of different,

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performing artists and rappers and MCs

I would love to interview,

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but I don't necessarily know if they would

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like broadly appeal.

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You know.

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Yeah.

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I think, I think we were toying around

with, you know,

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obviously KRS his name came into the fold.

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you know, we were trying to,

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KRS was here

and he actually he was here a while ago.

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he was at Lehigh. And,

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so I think Chuck D,

I think we just kind of basically.

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And I think it was more u than anything,

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that basically was like, you know,

I think he would be the perfect fit.

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and, and you know what?

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And he was

he basically was the perfect fit. So,

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you know, I want to give out,

first of all, let's do this.

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I don't want to say this right now

off the bat.

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like, seriously, I'm going to give you

your flowers, like, because

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in this past year alone, you did so much

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with,

you know, with Northampton on your side

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and trying to get these events going

and you brought me into the fold with it,

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and I helped you out, you know, with

what I could do and be there for. And,

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I just want to I just want to say

thank you for that opportunity

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because that that was just so dope that,

you know, everything came to fruition.

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you know, we did we had to do

we worked through it

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and it just, you know, it popped off.

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So, you know, everything

from the beginnings,

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you know, right to,

you know, Grandmaster Caz and

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you know, and and, you know, and then

obviously with Chuck D at the end.

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So I just want to give you flowers

on that and just, you know,

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and, you know,

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I think overall just the

I wouldn't even say Bethlehem, but just

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Lehigh Valley as an overall,

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you know, they know about us.

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They've been here, they've toured here,

they've done shows out here.

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They know about these places.

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And I think it was just real dope.

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to show them again, like, hey,

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you know,

we're a viable location for them and,

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you know, and a lot of these people,

you know, we've we've, you know,

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we've now, have garnered relationships

with these people.

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And, you know, there is things

there talks for future stuff now.

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And, you know, things that, you know, me

and ARM have talked about now that maybe

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we should, you know, for the future about,

you know, where we're going to go and

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but overall, man, thanks.

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You know,

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I just want to give you your flowers on

that brother because you, you definitely

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you and you went through a lot to like,

you know, personally.

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You know what

I'm going to talk about personal.

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But you did go through a lot personally

and still to, you know,

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come through and persevere

with all this stuff happening.

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I mean, that's it

speaks volumes about you, brother. So,

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yeah, I appreciate you, man,

for saying that and being down

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since day one on this when we were just

kind of kicking around these ideas.

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it's it's a good reminder

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the way that you talked about August

and where we were and where we began.

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It was kind of humble, like we just

we kicked it off with a party,

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you know, Music fest.

And that was really live.

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And it had a really good energy.

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And we, we took

we took that little four elements

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party to our,

you know, Northampton's college campus.

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And I thought those were pretty dope.

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There was that one day you remember it was

like 96 degrees and yeah, like we were.

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So it's like

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we we really did put in the work for it.

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And then, you know, it came to fruition.

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And so I like how, you know,

I know you call it the capstone event.

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That's a good way to put it.

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Chuck came

and kind of tied everything together.

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And I thought, like,

his talk too, was unintentionally kind of

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about the origins of hip hop,

which is kind of

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what we've been focusing on all year,

which was perfect.

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You know.

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So what was that process like?

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So you decide Chuck D's the person.

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How long did it take

before you could officially announce

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that it was in,

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We put in solicitations

almost a year ago at this time.

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And it takes it took 2 to 3 months

to just hear back tour.

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And we got the

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we got the,

we think this could work in early July.

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And we talked with the, with management

and the booking agents in mid-July.

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And then I think it was like right before,

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our first event on

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August 11th at Music Fest,

like the week before,

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we got the message that everything

worked out like schedule wise, etc.

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there was a date that would work,

the price was agreed upon,

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and it was like, awesome.

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And so we could informally tell people,

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yeah, we've got Chuck D coming, you know,

but we couldn't really formally

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do any advertising or marketing

until other things were in place.

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And that wasn't until the fall.

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So it's like,

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you know,

I have a little bit of familiarity

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in this business, but I think we, we,

we all sometimes forget as, as

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we are our fans and consumers,

and we love the culture.

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But, you know, the machine behind

all of this, you know, is

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big and vast, moves slowly

but very deliberately and effectively.

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Was part of it.

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And Chuck is a testament to that.

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Why? He's

one of the, you know, half a dozen

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to a dozen hip hop artists from that era

that still represents and can like,

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you know, pull up a thousand people

on a Tuesday night by just talking.

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You know what I'm saying?

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because he is

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it's not only the show part he's got down,

he's got the business part down as well,

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you know,

but you'd never guess that because

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I think, JB, you had said it,

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all the credit to the world to Chuck D for

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being a very gracious and kind

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and just an everyday guy like that.

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That was the amazing

and disarming part about it.

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Whether he was talking to someone,

a student, the president of the college,

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US or whatever,

he was always on the same, same level.

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You know?

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Right on.

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What was your biggest takeaway

from the actual conversation with Chuck D?

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I mean, we found him to be

very insightful, engaging, inspirational.

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Like, what was your biggest takeaway?

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my biggest takeaway was that

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Chuck has,

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he gets he's very passionate

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and and sitting next to him,

I could kind of feel the part

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where it was like a casual back and forth,

and I would almost say the first

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15 minutes to a half hour would just real.

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The energy with him was pretty casual.

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And it was cool was, you know,

breaking me in pretty good, you know?

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But then he started talking like

as we got talking about his the history,

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like at Adelphi University where

Spectrum City, the DJ crew he belonged to,

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how they came together, the music

they were playing,

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the early hip hop years.

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He got very passionate.

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You I remember like at one point

I remember he bellowed into the mic

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and I was like,

yeah, this is what it's like to be.

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I felt that too.

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I remember that moment.

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I'm like this, that that's the Chuck

we hear on record and like, it's

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coming out, you know?

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and that was

that was really cool to behold.

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You know, how he,

he kind of regulates and manages that.

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I want to give props to the students

we brought on stage

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who asked a variety of questions

at the end, in particular,

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a student of mine named Andra

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asked him about his graphic novels

and his creative process and his shift.

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His energy shifted and he got very,

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personal as he talked

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about what what went

into the making of that graphic novel?

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I was joking with her afterwards.

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I was like, you know,

I was on stage with him for an hour.

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I didn't get anything like that with him.

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Like, you know,

all all the all the credit goes to her

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for doing some research and,

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you know, about a specific topic

in, in his,

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in his art history,

you know, beyond the music is his graphic

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novel work and some of the ideas

that go into that graphic novel.

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And she, she,

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she had them open, in my opinion,

it was a pretty it was a pretty honest,

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and authentic moment

and cool to to to experience that.

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I want to follow up on that.

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So you picked the students and

they generated the question themselves.

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what was the process

for picking the students?

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They were terrific.

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all four of them dig it.

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you know, I, I just

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higher ed,

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you know, the, the most important

relationship in higher ed and,

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you know, it's it's not the administration

and it's not the faculty chairs,

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and it's just student teachers

that's doesn't

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nothing else goes on

without students and teachers.

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So I always felt like I wanted,

you know, student involvement

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in this event where they were visible,

not just in the audience. And,

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we kind of put out feelers

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with other professors

or I myself in my classroom,

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about students that were kind of a

cut above the rest, you know what I mean?

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Like they just were ready and willing

to kind of take on the challenge

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of speaking in front of a thousand people,

meeting someone like Chuck D.

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you know, they didn't

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necessarily have to be, like,

hip hop heads or like Public Enemy fans.

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I was I was looking for people

who are who were interested in,

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the production of culture and talking

about hip hop music and American history,

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you know,

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and all those students fit the bill,

and they all kind of approached it

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in their own different way.

So it was pretty cool.

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Because that's a tough

that can be tough for people of that age

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because Chuck D isn't of their era,

you know.

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(Right.)

That's that's our music from 30 years ago.

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Thirty years. Ago.

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It would have been like

if I was in high school or college

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and I got to interview

like Smokey Robinson or something.

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Yeah.

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And it'd be like, oh,

I know who this guy is.

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But like I don't, you know, and.

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You know go up to them. Right.

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They didn't grow up with them

and they may not actually know who he is.

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So you know kudos to them

for having some sense of history. And

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you know, American history.

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Yeah. Yeah.

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I mean, in the magnitude of this event

bringing Chuck D,

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I was trying to equate it to sports

because my family's,

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you know, heavily into sports.

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I was like telling my son I was like,

this is like LeBron James

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or a Kobe Bryant or like a Michael Jordan

type figure of hip hop.

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And he knows it like he's like,

this is amazing.

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Like it was just that big.

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Like.

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I'll give you I'll give you another,

I'll give you another player.

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Come.

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Yeah I would say Barkley that's.

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You know, I mean that's a good one.

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Yeah. Yeah yeah.

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Because he's vocal right.

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If he's vocal and he has a presence.

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Yeah. Presence.

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And you know like Chuck has a couple

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platinum albums but it's like it's a it's

a different thing.

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It's not

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I mean when we think about Charles Barkley

we think now we think about

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kind of everything he's done right from

from Auburn to where he's at now.

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And I think Chuck D's similar.

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It's like,

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I mean, if somebody's like,

yo and be honest, like ten years ago,

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you remember Peter Rosenberg on

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hot 97

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was like, yo, Chuck D hasn't done

much for the culture lately.

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And he got, you know, Rosenberg

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got railroaded for saying things like that

because it's like, you don't understand.

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Like, this is a dude that's operating

above and beyond, like, what's hot?

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Like, whatever's the hottest new thing

being released.

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Yeah, he's really expanded his vision

of what

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Public Enemy is

and honestly, what hip hop can be.

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and so that's why I would compare him

to Barkley in that sense.

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Like, yeah, he may not have six rings, but

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I mean, we all know Sir

Charles, Sir Charles, he bald.

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He bald in his day

and he's still doing his thing.

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It's funny

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because Chuck D references

Charles Barkley in Rebel Without a Pause.

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He actually says something

like Slam like Barkley. Yeah.

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you're.

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Yeah, yeah.

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Throw it down your face like Barkley.

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You're,

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I honestly like, I guess

some other voices, like Boogie and Cap.

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Like,

what was your takeaways from the speech?

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Because it was impactful.

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I want to kind of paint a picture

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for the listeners

that may not have been able to attend.

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Like, how impactful was a speech to you?

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Like what was key takeaways.

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Boogie, why don't you go first

and we’ll ask Cap as well?

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So so I was trying to think about

what I would say was my

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my thoughts on his speech,

but I think he was very, insightful.

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And I like how he spoke.

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he spoke not just to the fans,

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but he spoke directly

to the students as well.

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he spoke about the importance

of taking advantage

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of being in a place of higher education.

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Educate yourself

while you have the time and the place

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and the means and the people around you

that are willing to impart

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that knowledge to you,

take advantage of it.

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this this is a time and a place

where you can

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you can grab hold of

yourself and ground yourself.

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and I also like how,

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he spoke also see young people as far as,

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getting involved,

you know, he said, you know,

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you know,

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people have the apathy about,

you know, becoming

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involved in the political process

or the political machine.

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And he was saying how.

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It's okay to, to to want to

to want to be a part of it.

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But it's also up to,

you know, people of our generation

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to make sure that it's okay for them

to, to, to want to do it.

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And if you don't, you're constantly

have you lost and floating along.

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And it's not a good thing.

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You know, take advantage of you know,

where you are

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in your in a stage

in life, in and get involved in, in.

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Don't sit on a side

and then wonder what's going on

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because sooner or later

you'll be in your 40s. Like what happened,

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you know, and I just,

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I just like I just like that,

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you know, I'm always I'm all about,

you know,

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each one teach one

educating youth and empowering them.

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So anytime anyone can use it, always,

you know, take them

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on my little heartstrings a little bit.

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Can you?

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so, I mean,

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a lot of things, actually,

to be honest with you,

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the one that.

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Yeah, he, you know, Boogie touched upon,

it was the fact of,

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how he, you know, told these students

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the importance of,

you know, what, where you're at

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and how you should take advantage of it.

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you know, I've been to some,

you know, some Q and A's where,

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you know, with certain hip hop artists

where they've kind of downplayed,

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you know, you know,

kind of like schools and stuff like that

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and talk about how to be in a system

and everything, you know.

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But I think,

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I think it was kind of surprising to me

in a way where Chuck actually praised it,

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and said, you know, you, I mean, he,

he use it.

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He gave you two levels of it where

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it's like, learn, you know,

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you're here, learn, but it's also on you.

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Because, remember,

school is a big business.

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And you know, just like,

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yeah, you know,

if you don't make it and you fail

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and you or you leave the next day,

they don't care

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because they got somebody else coming in

right after you the next year.

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So the whole thing,

it's like for him to really put that,

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put it on the student to be like, look,

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you know, this is now on you

because you're paying for this.

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You know what I mean?

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Maybe some of you got scholarships

or whatever, but some of them don't.

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And it's all tuition that they're going

to, you know, be paying for a while.

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So it's like

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if you're going

to be putting all this money into this

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or spending all this money, like make it

something that's going to be worth.

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So you're going to use in the future for

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or viable for your,

you know, for your future.

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And I think that was really dope that

he stressed that I was very surprised,

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to be honest.

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I thought he's going to come out

on some straight up political, you know,

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you know, after system

that Prez, you know, here we go.

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Like it's like, you know, I was like

I was selling I was selling arm.

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I was like, I'm

going to play these schools.

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But that was.

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Like.

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not just.

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Like, you know, but he,

he didn't he that he, you know,

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I think it was dope knowing that

he has a background, you know, and

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and went to Delphi, graduated and,

you know, did what he did.

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So I think that's I think it was also dope

saying the fact that he got

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he flunked out and came back.

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:

You know what I mean?

384

:

I think it's important

that people know, like, you know,

385

:

you know,

if you first you don't succeed, try again.

386

:

So I think that was dope too.

387

:

That type of message, him being like,

yeah, I, I messed up, I flunked out.

388

:

But I came back and do what I had to do.

389

:

And you know, obviously,

you know, he went from there.

390

:

The biggest takeaway

for me to be real with you is that,

391

:

he was the set up for

392

:

what is known

as the drawing board, for Def Jam.

393

:

That is insane,

because the drawing board is

394

:

basically anything you saw on Def Jam,

395

:

be it from album covers to logos

to, you know, whatever.

396

:

That was all the drawing board.

397

:

So, I mean, me, as I went to school,

I went to High School of Art design,

398

:

and I was,

you know, going to school for art.

399

:

I was doing commercial, art and,

cartooning.

400

:

I was majoring in that,

401

:

knowing that he was a part of that,

402

:

and he was instrumental in the beginning

of that in the early stages of Def Jam

403

:

and then eventually drawing board,

becoming what it was.

404

:

I mean, that that to me was like, wow.

405

:

Because like, from an artists perspective,

that to me was just huge to hear,

406

:

you know, because you know, that that

really got to me because I was like, wow.

407

:

Like, I have total respect

for the drawing board.

408

:

I mean, any album cover

from basically from 88 to 94,

409

:

95, I mean, that was that's

all drawing board, Def Jam and like,

410

:

you know, those are iconic album covers,

411

:

you know, or even details or whatever

was done on the album cover itself.

412

:

And what was dope was when, you know,

I gave him my, 340 fives,

413

:

which somebody told me not to.

414

:

Okay.

415

:

And then it came out to be

416

:

one of the dopest parts of the night that.

417

:

So I had my three.

418

:

I had my 45 of Public

Enemy handed it to him.

419

:

He like freaked out.

420

:

He was like, look, I told you, we got 45.

421

:

It was dope.

422

:

Was he started to break it down to me

and like, look, I designed this.

423

:

This is what I did here.

424

:

Like, you know, just to know

that he designed those,

425

:

those iconic

12 inch or 7 inch covers that I have.

426

:

I mean, that just means like, wow, like,

that's crazy.

427

:

Like he did.

428

:

He did a lot.

429

:

And it's and you know, and it's like,

430

:

and it's so dope to know that somebody

like him like to be real with you.

431

:

That inspired me a lot right now.

432

:

Like, you know, after seeing him,

you know, I actually,

433

:

you know, I ended up, you know, I,

I was at a Comic-Con and I started looking

434

:

at comic books again and started

looking at drawings again and artwork.

435

:

And I came home

and were sketching again and,

436

:

you know, so for me, man, like,

that was just dope inspiration,

437

:

like just coming out of the woodwork that,

438

:

you know, I was just looking forward

to being like, yo, Chuck D, that's it.

439

:

You know what I mean?

440

:

Like, chuck these here and like,

meaning my icon, like my iconic hero.

441

:

And next, you know,

now I'm being inspired again.

442

:

Like a second wind of like, man, like,

that's really dope.

443

:

Like,

I didn't even know to be real with you.

444

:

I'm kind of upset at myself that I didn't

even know he did a graphic novel,

445

:

of apocalypse 91.

446

:

And then Malik's there with it.

447

:

Malik's showing it to me,

and I'm just there like, wow,

448

:

I didn't even know he had that. So,

449

:

I mean, it was dope. Dope.

450

:

That was that was dope that, you know,

he just, you know,

451

:

like all those

all those things that he has been doing

452

:

since the P stuff like that

was pretty dope to know.

453

:

Like it was eye opening

and also like, wow.

454

:

Like that's pretty cool.

455

:

Like just getting that vibe from him

and overall real

456

:

grill,

real real down to earth humble homie.

457

:

You know what I mean?

458

:

Like, just I just came off the bat like,

you know,

459

:

I mean, I'm, you're talking to a guy

that I've seen him all.

460

:

I've hung out with him all, you know,

I mean, and there's like, maybe,

461

:

I mean, I could count maybe on both hands

how many have been, like, so humble.

462

:

And he's definitely one of them.

463

:

Like,

he was so, you know, so accommodating,

464

:

so gracious, so very cool with everybody.

465

:

He was right off the bat

just being you know,

466

:

you know he could have came in being no.

467

:

Ten and have no smile.

468

:

You know what I mean?

469

:

Like he could have came that way

470

:

and we would have been like,

yeah, that's cool. That's Chuck D.

471

:

Like, we ain't gonna say shit to him,

you know what I mean?

472

:

But he had a smile the whole time and,

473

:

you know, he was shaking hands

with everybody, hugging everybody.

474

:

And I was just like,

wow, that's what's up. That's dope.

475

:

So and you know, somebody in his age

because sometimes, you know,

476

:

you don't say, you know how they say.

477

:

And sometimes

you want to meet your heroes.

478

:

You know what I mean?

479

:

You know, because you never know.

480

:

You know, you going to get you know,

you going to be like, oh, man.

481

:

And I and I've met people like that.

I've met people.

482

:

But I was like totally disappointed

after meeting him.

483

:

So but so, you know, and somebody

could have easily landed on that.

484

:

He could have been, maybe had an off day

and been mad pro political

485

:

and being like, you know,

like being on some crazy, you know.

486

:

But he wasn't he was very,

487

:

very, very accommodating, very doe,

very gracious and everything gracious is,

488

:

I think, the word that all

489

:

of us were using, you know, when it comes

to, you know, defining him that day.

490

:

So and he definitely, you know.

491

:

You generate any reflections of your own.

492

:

Yeah. Cap set it.

493

:

he was inspirational.

494

:

And I had a similar reaction about like,

oh, I got to meet Chuck D.

495

:

That would have been like it.

496

:

But then I got, I went home

with so many notes in my notebook

497

:

and so many things I think about.

498

:

And, one of them being

he did, took a question

499

:

from the student that was about in

what we do about younger artists.

500

:

And he brought out this prison metaphor

that he was

501

:

being a prism to shine

light on other people and younger artists.

502

:

I thought, wow,

503

:

it like

504

:

made the prism go off in my head

like, whoa, that's what I'm doing with,

505

:

you know, whatever things that I'm doing

in, in higher ed and then and the podcast

506

:

and everything.

507

:

So I walked away a lot more inspired

inspire than I thought I was going to be.

508

:

Just meeting my hero.

509

:

literally hit what?

510

:

Yeah.

511

:

If I could share a couple reflections.

512

:

Yeah.

513

:

You know, listen, the Public Enemy,

you grow up and it's something

514

:

you never heard, and it's very militant,

515

:

you know, with the way they perform

and his crew

516

:

and all this stuff and.

517

:

You, you kind of.

518

:

You don't know what to expect.

519

:

You're like, is he going to come out

like that? Like you said, cab.

520

:

And then it's like, man,

what a renaissance.

521

:

He's like a Renaissance man,

522

:

you know, he he's done

the graphic novels, he's done emceeing.

523

:

I would never think

524

:

he would mention Pilates and like, his

his spiritual journey a little bit.

525

:

That's how. He got.

526

:

You know. Yeah.

527

:

I was like, well, what's this all about?

528

:

It's probably like the Rick Rubin effect,

you know, the Zen master.

529

:

But it was like all these little,

530

:

bits of inspiration and,

531

:

these nuggets and gems of wisdom.

532

:

I was like, wow.

533

:

Like, this guy is like, unreal.

534

:

I just when you think it's just like,

all right, is it a hip hop legend?

535

:

He's inspiring kids to, you know,

take advantage of the facilities.

536

:

He's, you know, go to library.

537

:

He's talking about when he grew up

and Bill Russell story, who was his hero

538

:

and how he fell in love with libraries

go there every single day.

539

:

And he talked about

scholars are the people

540

:

that that read everything,

not just what their what they like

541

:

and have and be a citizen of the world

and like have a friend in another country

542

:

and like, think bigger and get out

of your comfort zone and all that stuff.

543

:

And I'm like, wow, this,

this is amazing for like, you know.

544

:

Inspirational. Yeah.

545

:

Yeah.

546

:

Exactly.

547

:

Yeah.

548

:

There was one.

549

:

There was one more thing though,

that that really touched me about him too.

550

:

And it's not even about what he said,

551

:

but it was at the end when we were

all lined up to take our pictures,

552

:

and I knew that there was a long line,

so I wasn't trying to hold up the line

553

:

or anything like that.

554

:

And we took our,

you know, we we took our picture wisdom.

555

:

And I know my brother, man, I wanted to

get a all picture and I think he heard me.

556

:

He's like, come on, let's do it.

557

:

I'm like, what? How what?

558

:

Like and I actually got to take a picture

with him, like,

559

:

because I mean like

chug the like for me like

560

:

he the lyrics made me.

561

:

They reinforced my, my desire to learn

562

:

because if you like listening

to the lyrics and he's name dropping

563

:

his name in different situations,

different instances, different,

564

:

atrocities as things like that

have happened throughout history.

565

:

And you hear him,

you're like, well, what is that about?

566

:

So immediately, like,

I'm trying to look up these,

567

:

these, these things or whatever

he's talking about.

568

:

So I'm learning about this stuff,

like some of this stuff

569

:

is, you know, the teachers taught

and some of the stuff he was never taught.

570

:

But it's funny because like, now

as an adult, like some of this stuff that

571

:

I hear people talk about like,

yeah, I've never heard about it.

572

:

I'm like, man, I heard about that

when I was like eighth grade or something.

573

:

And it's because I heard sugar

mentioned it in a wrong.

574

:

I ran and looked it up

to see who he was talking about.

575

:

You know, what situations

the things he was talking about.

576

:

So, you know, it was

it was like, you know, that was

577

:

that was very meaningful

for me to to have that.

578

:

He was just like, well, okay,

come on, let's hurry up.

579

:

Let's do this, let's do this.

580

:

And he was like you said, the humility

and the humbleness.

581

:

You know that, like, all right, man, God,

I go here, you go like go ahead.

582

:

He's like, come on. No, no, let's do this.

You know that.

583

:

That touched me, man.

584

:

The music historian, American historian,

585

:

black culture.

586

:

and he was like self-deprecating humor

a little bit, too,

587

:

which was awesome because he was like, I'm

a country guy.

588

:

And I was like, I didn't even know why

I had two turntables.

589

:

Maybe one's a backup

in case the other one breaks down.

590

:

Like, I'm like, are you serious?

591

:

Like, that was Elvis alive?

592

:

It was a backup.

593

:

Amazing. It's amazing.

594

:

Yeah, that was a true.

595

:

Yeah, but.

596

:

So have you, tap or have you got.

597

:

Had either of you guys

met Chuck D before last week

598

:

in any.

599

:

I met him when I was 15,

at Lincoln University at a at a okay.

600

:

At a an event in a,

601

:

you know, an auditorium,

probably 100 people or what have you.

602

:

And that was that was that like fear

of a black planet time and, you know,

603

:

and also I just another thing is like hip

hop was on the margins at the time.

604

:

So it wasn't like

605

:

it wasn't like he was a

606

:

marquee name,

so to speak, the way that he is now,

607

:

you know,

608

:

it's like you had to know

about Public Enemy,

609

:

sort of like Boogie was saying,

like you had to go learn about this stuff.

610

:

You know, that's what I think, that

hip hop of that era was,

611

:

was really great

at was it, it required you

612

:

to kind of dig in and,

613

:

he, he was there with Harry Allen.

614

:

That's that's why I met.

615

:

I mean, I met him, I got his his autograph

and it was, it was,

616

:

he was in it.

617

:

You know, it's interesting

618

:

hearing you guys say, like,

which persona was going to arrive.

619

:

When I think back to that,

that time in:

620

:

Yeah. 90, 90, 91,

621

:

like the, the Chuck

622

:

S1W like, showed up like it was a pretty

623

:

it was a pretty like,

624

:

I don't know what the word is for it,

you know, like,

625

:

I don't want to say confrontational,

626

:

but, like, you know, it was also Lehigh

in the, like, early 90s.

627

:

So, like, I remember somebody heckling him

or whatever.

628

:

And like, he was like, you know what?

629

:

You know, I've spoken enough.

I'm gonna turn it over to Harry Allen.

630

:

And Harry Allen's also like,

you know, we think of him as the punchline

631

:

and don't believe the hype,

but like, is it he's a established

632

:

journalist and historian

and he's also very adept at interviews.

633

:

And he took over the the end of the talk.

634

:

And, kind of people,

635

:

it was kind of wild, you know,

they that, you know.

636

:

So, yeah, that I had

I had a little bit of experience before.

637

:

Before. I don't know, cap.

638

:

Had you come across some that.

639

:

I never came across Chuck at all.

640

:

I actually I think

the closer that came at Chuck was actually

641

:

I threw a party with, Flavor Flav.

642

:

that was kind of it. So,

643

:

so, I mean, you know,

finally got the connection I got.

644

:

I had slave threw a party with me,

and now I have.

645

:

And I'm deejay and a Chuck D, Q

and A, so I mean, that was the connection.

646

:

but not, I definitely didn't have it,

647

:

with him and stuff. but.

648

:

Part of the reason why I picked him,

though, is that he has developed

649

:

a reputation of being approachable.

650

:

And in all of our conversations

651

:

about what we were with, with management,

about what we wanted to

652

:

do, like the access part was a big deal

for me, you know, like,

653

:

I just wanted to demystify,

if you will, a little bit like, you know,

654

:

these people are human beings.

655

:

They're just like you

and I like and create some connection.

656

:

It's like finding the right artists

who can convey that.

657

:

And Chuck D was that dude.

658

:

And that's it's my understanding.

659

:

That's kind of how he's been rolling

for the last ten years or so, maybe more.

660

:

But like, no doubt, the last ten years,

he's he's taken on a, a role as,

661

:

like an ambassador sort of for Public

Enemy, for hip hop, etc..

662

:

And he's the perfect guy for it.

663

:

He seems to have the right temperament

for it.

664

:

You know, he's seen lots of things,

and now he can be the elder statesman.

665

:

Statesmen for sure.

666

:

So what was your biggest takeaway?

667

:

Just hanging out with them

behind the scenes was that guy like.

668

:

you know,

he was largely like very similar.

669

:

I mean, like, it was it was cool that,

670

:

you know, have a couple private moments

with him.

671

:

You know, before the events began

and in the green room and so on.

672

:

I, I'd say the,

673

:

the only moment, you know, the militant

Chuck came out was when I started popping

674

:

pop and junk about the Knicks

and my and and the best

675

:

and he wasn't having it.

676

:

He was just

he didn't want to hear it, you know,

677

:

he said something really interesting.

678

:

I was like, man, you can't front.

679

:

And Jaylen Brown man, not only is

he a great player but look at that look.

680

:

The way he uses his platform.

681

:

And Chuck shot back at me.

682

:

He was like he's

just doing what a man's supposed to do.

683

:

I was like word up all right.

684

:

And it's, you know, tail bounce.

685

:

Like one of the few NBA stars that

will take and like, take certain stances.

686

:

And, you know, you use his, his, his

687

:

prestige and power

to kind of make political points, etc..

688

:

And Chuck was like,

I'm not impressed, you know, like,

689

:

but like, yeah, but if he was a nick.

690

:

Yeah, he was a.

691

:

He's a.

692

:

Play for the Celtics.

693

:

And it was. Funny.

694

:

I mean, those conversations,

I thought those conversations

695

:

would be fun to have with him.

696

:

Like when we were in the green room

and like, he wasn't having it.

697

:

He was like, yeah.

698

:

He's like,

I don't want to, you know, stop.

699

:

Stop making jokes about the Knicks.

Not funny.

700

:

You know, like. I was like, all right.

701

:

We haven't even stepped on stage.

I don't want to. I don't want. To get.

702

:

Sour.

703

:

No, I started with this.

704

:

Well,

705

:

you know, he was pretty.

706

:

You said something like.

707

:

He was like, well, listen, when we lose,

I know it's been a good season.

708

:

I was like, there's your problem.

You're saying that they lose?

709

:

And he got mad about that.

710

:

He got mad.

711

:

He was, We got mad.

712

:

He's just like, you don't know what

it's like to be a knick fan.

713

:

I don't want to hear

you've had a championship.

714

:

They're beating Sixers now, so.

715

:

Yeah.

716

:

Yeah, yeah.

717

:

Mixed feelings are hilarious.

718

:

So you got spike Lee Harris.

719

:

Oh, right.

720

:

Because it's all my shit. Yes.

721

:

Yeah. Give me a,

722

:

I have it.

723

:

I wear a regimen of it.

724

:

You know.

725

:

You really like this year?

726

:

I said welcome to. Rocky

with a Michael Jordan jersey.

727

:

Funny, I thought he.

728

:

I thought it would be, like, funny,

you know, but, yeah, you know,

729

:

he didn't play about that. It was.

730

:

I guess he takes the sports

seriously funny.

731

:

And it's not.

He didn't really want it to be.

732

:

Hey, he was like I was like,

you know what? I'll give you this.

733

:

I was like, the NBA is better

when the Knicks are good.

734

:

Like Madison Square Garden,

the whole nine.

735

:

It's exciting.

736

:

He was like, I don't care about that. Yes.

737

:

I just want my Knicks to win.

738

:

classic.

739

:

it was cool to see.

740

:

You know, like,

that's that's. Where that's.

741

:

Good about, you know, and and know

anybody who's a sports fan know this,

742

:

that there's a certain irrationality

to our sports fandom.

743

:

And that's part of the fun of it. No

744

:

that's funny.

745

:

The Knicks haven't been in the finals

for a million years.

746

:

So I'm sure he's sold 20.

747

:

2025. Is that right.

748

:

2520. 25 million.

749

:

You know who's counting. Yeah.

750

:

I didn't know yourself.

751

:

This fan I don't know

I mean this is, this is difficult

752

:

to hear.

753

:

Is over just

754

:

Macintosh this forever.

755

:

I the.

756

:

This 50.

757

:

Years

I don't write I or 70 Sixers fans book.

758

:

Is it Bulls fan.

759

:

Cap who who who you prefer.

760

:

I Texas fan.

761

:

Success. Yeah. Yeah.

762

:

Well they got they didn't

they did get job by the referees.

763

:

There's all these things coming out like

the last two minutes of all these games.

764

:

I think they're the league

765

:

salty about the process, how they tanked

all these years, trying to get.

766

:

I don't know.

767

:

Listen as. Long as the Lakers moved.

768

:

They treated they treated Maxey like like

nd Street in like:

769

:

They they rolled up on him quick.

770

:

They took that ball.

771

:

But listen yeah I don't know what

the other four sixes were doing.

772

:

There was like

they were like standing around watching.

773

:

That's the those last.

774

:

30s that, that was very Doc Rivers. Yeah.

775

:

I mean I think we would, you.

776

:

Know, you know why?

777

:

I'm just like I was you

seeing the aftermath and being like, yeah,

778

:

I know how this is going to end.

779

:

So it doesn't even matter.

780

:

Well.

781

:

Just as long as the Lakers are out,

that's all about.

782

:

Yeah, it's all about

783

:

sports.

784

:

Sports is a great

unifier. Yes. Or divider.

785

:

well, on that note, you you you

786

:

you kind of got into with me

a little bit with the Knicks, but

787

:

didn't make you nervous,

or were you already nervous

788

:

to do the interview

and all the conversations stuff?

789

:

I mean, yeah, for sure.

790

:

but a lot of work went into this.

791

:

I mean, as we talked about

in the beginning of this podcast, like it

792

:

ideas about this began a year ago.

793

:

And then, you know,

I had time to sketch it out.

794

:

you know, early on and just kind of

bounce ideas off of people I could trust.

795

:

And, and then most importantly,

I just, I want to give a huge shout out

796

:

to the people I worked with at NCC,

particularly the vice provost, E-Bug.

797

:

Now that. E-Bug was, was, was

798

:

an executive,

799

:

you know, an executive administrator

at the college that,

800

:

essentially, you know,

801

:

anything that I was envisioning

or thought we needed or what have you,

802

:

she was like, okay, I'm gonna look into

see if we can get that. And,

803

:

and then in turn, like,

security and facilities and,

804

:

variety of other parts of our college,

the library,

805

:

I want to give the library

a big shout out, like,

806

:

they gave me a lot of the materials

to help

807

:

set up the display and like, oh, cool.

808

:

it was just it was cool.

It was a group effort.

809

:

So a lot of planning went in,

and I'll be honest, like,

810

:

the nerves were sort of like, wow, like

a lot of people here, this is rolling.

811

:

But I felt comfortable

with our plan, you know,

812

:

I felt comfortable with who I was working

with.

813

:

It's part of why I want to cap as a DJ.

814

:

We've been working together

for, for over, you know, I think 25 years,

815

:

like 98, 99 is when we met and like,

816

:

when,

when we were running late to be, you know,

817

:

if there's somebody else,

if I'm, if I'm texting with a sound man

818

:

or I can't communicate with them

or another deejay or whatever,

819

:

I know who's on the other end and who's

buying me time, and I trust them 100%.

820

:

And so when we were running a little late,

I wasn't worried in any kind of way

821

:

that like, we, you know, that

what we had planned was going wrong,

822

:

because I knew cap cap knew what

the plan was and knew how to improvise

823

:

in the time that we had

to kind of make up.

824

:

So, I was,

825

:

I'll be.

826

:

Yeah, I'll be honest.

827

:

I kept joking with people like,

you know, you know, bring the smelling

828

:

salts or like, I pass out,

you know, just run up on stage.

829

:

I was ready, man.

830

:

Like, ready?

831

:

Yeah. You know what I'm saying? But,

832

:

I actually felt really good.

833

:

And some of it was just from the

get go from the jump.

834

:

Chuck was just like,

what do you want me to do?

835

:

You know, like, that's that's like,

836

:

I think that's a quote, like,

what do you want me to do? I'll do it.

837

:

You point me in the direction

of what you want me to do today,

838

:

and we'll we'll make it happen.

839

:

And so when you're working with

someone like, like that,

840

:

it puts you at ease, you know? Yeah.

841

:

It was a good.

842

:

It was a good plan.

843

:

We had a good plan.

844

:

All in all, good plan. Good job.

845

:

It was a great event just

846

:

from start to finish.

847

:

Great event.

848

:

phenomenal.

849

:

You know what you could tell,

You know what

850

:

I'm going to be I'm going to tell you

right now, you got to give it up to arm

851

:

two for the music,

because he, you know, the music.

852

:

As much as I'm getting now a lot of credit

for that night with the music,

853

:

he should get a lot of it too,

because it was actually a playlist

854

:

he put together of all the songs

that he wanted

855

:

to play in coordination with the night.

856

:

so he gave me lists for,

you know, and time and time stamps

857

:

for when he wanted this certain thing

and this certain thing played.

858

:

And then when they came in

to play a certain song and then,

859

:

you know, when it was done. So,

860

:

you know, as much as I,

861

:

you know, people are giving me the credit

for being like, yo, cap, you,

862

:

you know, you know, you killed it,

you killed it, you killed it.

863

:

I mean, that's all I've been getting,

you know, since that night.

864

:

I've been getting a ton of,

you know, messages and stuff about that.

865

:

But in the end, like, arm

866

:

was the one who actually, like,

put that in sequence for me.

867

:

I mean, he made he gave me the list.

868

:

I had to just come up with the,

the flow of them, you know what I mean?

869

:

But, you know, I mean, it was

and it was crazy because, you know,

870

:

he put on songs there

that I had to get that, you know, from,

871

:

you know, because I,

you know, I'm going to be truthful, like,

872

:

I didn't, I wasn't really

873

:

checking for a P after he got game

soundtrack, basically.

874

:

So it's just like.

875

:

You know, I never I yeah. Yeah.

876

:

I, you know, I slept on.

877

:

Yeah I slept on those albums and then,

you know, me and arm got one together.

878

:

One day we're driving around.

879

:

He's playing me like all these new joints

that I've never heard.

880

:

And I was just.

881

:

Like, it's

good to be. Good. Yeah, they're good shit.

882

:

So I mean, the whole thing was like,

all right, cool.

883

:

Like, you know, so for like a whole week,

you know, after he gave me

884

:

the list of all the songs,

I put all the playlist together,

885

:

you know, I was listening to him.

886

:

So I mean, because I had it,

you know, how to listen to him.

887

:

You know, I'm not just gonna throw a song

on, like, I had to feel him out, so.

888

:

And, that's where all that came out.

889

:

So, I mean,

890

:

you know, and I told him, okay, well,

this is kind of how I want to make it

891

:

play out.

892

:

Also, the good thing about P with their,

893

:

you know, their beginning

894

:

skits of every song and kind of like,

that's kind of how I wanted to make it.

895

:

I wanted to, you know, it kind of made it

where I could break down everything.

896

:

You know? I didn't have to really mix.

897

:

I just kind of could throw them in,

898

:

but it's that they couldn't

even flow with everything. So,

899

:

the last set

while you guys were all standing in

900

:

line was actually, you know,

901

:

a joint effort where, you know,

he said, you know,

902

:

maybe we should stay with the conscious

tape, don't play anything,

903

:

you know, don't play like, you know,

all the 90s, you know, blah, blah, blah

904

:

that we hear all the time,

you know, play a lot of conscious stuff.

905

:

So I actually had to

go on my conscience bag and

906

:

bust out some joints and

907

:

stuff and, you know, and that's, you know,

I'll be really honest with you, though.

908

:

I mean,

909

:

but I was playing some of these songs.

910

:

I'm like, damn, man.

911

:

I mean, I, you know, he got board members.

912

:

There, he.

913

:

Got all these people and,

you know, been saying some shit.

914

:

And I'm like, oh, man, I like.

915

:

But, you know, no one came up to me

and said, stop playing it, you know?

916

:

No, nobody said nothing.

917

:

So I said, I can't wait

till my last set that I was

918

:

because I was like, I got Paris, I got Ice

Cube ready, I got all this stuff.

919

:

So, you know, I went in on that. So and.

920

:

You're going to have.

921

:

To hear state of the Union

when there's all these like,

922

:

you know,

college like administrators in there like.

923

:

Yeah. Wow. Exactly.

924

:

That's going to be like that.

925

:

This could be you know,

I was when I was that's very.

926

:

I was the security or one of the.

927

:

Board members a couple of people like.

928

:

Cut it off like I was wait,

I was waiting like I was.

929

:

You know, like, pulling the plug.

930

:

Yeah. I was waiting for somebody to be.

I was waiting for the sound man.

931

:

I if I heard my volume go down,

I mean, like, yeah, I know, right?

932

:

Yeah.

933

:

Like okay.

934

:

So yeah, I mean, but that's, that's my.

935

:

Cap was the right deejay for this because,

you know, not many deejays I could go to

936

:

and say, listen, I'm not trying

to micromanage what you, you know,

937

:

play this song,

this song, this song, in this song.

938

:

But here's here's the bag, right.

939

:

And stick to this bag however you see fit.

940

:

And he was willing to do that

and make it his own.

941

:

So it wasn't like he felt constricted.

942

:

He was like, okay, like

how how do I make this work, you know,

943

:

and that that I think speaks to his he's

kind of his talent and his ability

944

:

to kind of see like, okay, this event,

it's not just about like, you know,

945

:

what C

946

:

does when like he's killing it off

for Friday night on a dance floor.

947

:

And like not not every DJ can do that.

948

:

Like and do it in a way where you own it

and people

949

:

then coming up to you being like,

yo, you killed it, you know what I mean?

950

:

And that's that was dope.

951

:

And like the part where you mentioning

like, you know, what are we doing?

952

:

What are we doing here?

953

:

Like that was, that was very

that was that was very purposeful.

954

:

That was another thing about that.

955

:

It was appealing to me about Chuck D

for a lot of the reasons, like Boogie

956

:

said, about what he represents to me

is as I came up as a hip

957

:

hop head, as a as a scholar, etc.,

958

:

I wanted,

959

:

you know, I in 50, you know, hip

hop was getting this long in the tooth.

960

:

It's 50 years.

961

:

It can be it can be watered down.

962

:

I mean, it's it's crazy to me.

963

:

But you could play a lot of, like,

964

:

rah rah like,

you know, gap busting, drug selling stuff.

965

:

And it sounds way

safer than when you hear Chuck and Flav

966

:

talk about brothers

going to work it out there.

967

:

And I mean, and

and you got to think about that, right?

968

:

That we're more comfortable

with genocide and juice

969

:

than we are hearing about fight the power.

970

:

And and so I've definitely wanted

971

:

that in the mix to kind of play with that.

972

:

That's a that's kind of a part of

like what we've been trying to do.

973

:

We did it.

974

:

You know, we did a hip hop

event in historic Bethlehem, you know,

975

:

and around all these colonial houses,

these white spaces.

976

:

And I'm I think it's the,

977

:

the idea is that,

you know, we're trying to shine light,

978

:

you know, a little

bit into these places that,

979

:

generally play it safe and just kind of,

980

:

play upon that a little bit

when people get together

981

:

and it's feels like going into it

like, oh, what's about to happen?

982

:

But in actuality, I have this big trust

983

:

in hip hop

and the people that growth comes from it.

984

:

Like some of that, like

985

:

some of that,

like tension is actually diffused

986

:

because we actually come together.

987

:

You know,

that's the great thing about hip hop

988

:

is you come together and it's like,

okay, all right, I get it.

989

:

I, you know, when I, when

990

:

I was not solving the world's problems,

but we could break bread.

991

:

Oh yeah, I could.

992

:

I'll definitely say that.

993

:

I mean,

994

:

now you could definitely throw

an old school jam

995

:

and not worry about anything happening.

996

:

And everybody's now a legit, you know,

we're all adults now and we're all grown

997

:

and we all got families and we got kids

to come home to and things like that.

998

:

So I think that's the

the whole easiness of, you know. Yeah.

999

:

Back in the day.

:

00:48:12,333 --> 00:48:15,208

Yeah. We, you know, you can't

you can't really deny it.

:

00:48:15,208 --> 00:48:15,375

Yeah.

:

00:48:15,375 --> 00:48:19,208

There was violence at shows and there was

I mean they say it themselves too.

:

00:48:19,208 --> 00:48:21,833

And they were touring,

you know, there was freaking the

:

00:48:21,833 --> 00:48:23,875

the Bloods came in the rolling 80s

came in.

:

00:48:23,875 --> 00:48:25,416

They, you know,

they were shooting up the place.

:

00:48:25,416 --> 00:48:26,916

You know, they went into Detroit

:

00:48:26,916 --> 00:48:29,916

dudes already shooting before even

one song got played yet, like,

:

00:48:30,166 --> 00:48:31,375

that's how it was me, you know?

:

00:48:31,375 --> 00:48:34,375

But now I think, you know,

with this whole 50 and,

:

00:48:34,916 --> 00:48:37,750

you know, the culture and us, you know,

look at us ourselves.

:

00:48:37,750 --> 00:48:41,458

We're, you know, we're we're,

you know, we're brothers, we're families.

:

00:48:41,458 --> 00:48:42,625

We're, you know, we're dads.

:

00:48:42,625 --> 00:48:45,000

We're, you know,

we got responsibility, ease.

:

00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:46,791

Now, we're no longer just,

:

00:48:46,791 --> 00:48:49,958

you know, teenagers with, you know,

smoking blunts and drinking 40s like.

:

00:48:51,041 --> 00:48:53,000

And I think that's what makes it more

:

00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:56,666

I think everybody could be more calm

with everything that we're doing.

:

00:48:56,666 --> 00:49:00,875

And I think I think even that even

with the music that I was playing in that

:

00:49:00,875 --> 00:49:04,500

I don't think, you know, in my mind I'm

thinking it's affecting people in a way.

:

00:49:04,500 --> 00:49:07,500

But I probably wasn't

because I think everybody

:

00:49:07,500 --> 00:49:10,916

that was in

that crowd is a true, was a true P fan, or

:

00:49:11,250 --> 00:49:14,291

grew up with the music around them,

with their friends listening to it,

:

00:49:14,291 --> 00:49:16,000

and they were just like,

you know what? This is?

:

00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:16,916

This is what it is.

:

00:49:16,916 --> 00:49:20,625

You know, we're not going to have anything

pop off here, but this is educational.

:

00:49:20,625 --> 00:49:23,625

I mean, and the p

everything they said was educational.

:

00:49:23,916 --> 00:49:26,916

All those songs, as much as they even

cursed it or whatever,

:

00:49:26,958 --> 00:49:30,333

that was educational music, you know,

just like you said, you know, Boogie,

:

00:49:30,375 --> 00:49:31,000

you had to, like,

:

00:49:31,000 --> 00:49:34,000

go and look at books and stuff

to find out what they were talking about.

:

00:49:34,375 --> 00:49:37,625

You know, that's kind of why I love,

you know, the hip hop that I grew up in.

:

00:49:37,625 --> 00:49:38,333

You know what I mean?

:

00:49:39,500 --> 00:49:42,416

not only, you know, with P, but you know,

with,

:

00:49:42,416 --> 00:49:44,875

you know, with even people,

you know, like, even like people

:

00:49:44,875 --> 00:49:48,208

like Paris and Ice Cube and, and and,

you know, X clan

:

00:49:48,208 --> 00:49:51,250

and, you know, random man

and all of them and stuff.

:

00:49:51,250 --> 00:49:54,625

I mean, you know, Brand Nubian,

I learned, you know, I got into,

:

00:49:55,125 --> 00:49:58,625

you know, 5%, you know, not,

you know, knowledge and stuff and,

:

00:49:59,166 --> 00:50:03,208

you know, so it's it's,

you know, the educational part of it.

:

00:50:03,208 --> 00:50:04,583

I think that's what's dope in that.

:

00:50:04,583 --> 00:50:07,666

You know, we could

we could do that now in this day

:

00:50:07,666 --> 00:50:10,916

and time, we could come off that way

and bring somebody like a Chuck

:

00:50:10,916 --> 00:50:14,791

D to come through and, you know, and,

and educate us, you know what I mean?

:

00:50:14,791 --> 00:50:18,916

With his personal, you know, you know,

with experiences and stuff and everything.

:

00:50:18,916 --> 00:50:22,166

So I think overall I just it's come

full circle, you know what I mean.

:

00:50:22,416 --> 00:50:25,375

But whatever thought you know, you know,

somebody said to me,

:

00:50:25,375 --> 00:50:28,208

somebody asked me like, cat would you ever

if you know, when you started

:

00:50:28,208 --> 00:50:31,625

or anything or ever think

that you'd be doing a Q&A with Chuck

:

00:50:32,291 --> 00:50:35,125

J and added, I'd be, oh hell no.

:

00:50:35,125 --> 00:50:36,625

You know,

I would never thought that in, you know,

:

00:50:36,625 --> 00:50:38,000

a million years, you know what I mean?

:

00:50:38,000 --> 00:50:39,791

But it's happening and it's it's here.

:

00:50:39,791 --> 00:50:41,875

So I think that's dope.

:

00:50:41,875 --> 00:50:43,583

And I think that that speaks volumes.

:

00:50:43,583 --> 00:50:47,333

So and then who knows the, you know, stuff

that, you know, me and Ahmed

:

00:50:47,333 --> 00:50:49,791

throwing around right now,

who knows anything could happen,

:

00:50:49,791 --> 00:50:50,833

you know, the next year or two.

:

00:50:50,833 --> 00:50:53,458

So let's see where it goes. So.

:

00:50:55,500 --> 00:50:56,500

Anyway, for all.

:

00:50:56,500 --> 00:51:00,541

You guys raising the bar, let's say

the bar, the bar has been raised so high.

:

00:51:00,541 --> 00:51:03,291

Like.

You know what? The bar has been raised.

:

00:51:03,291 --> 00:51:04,583

You know what? And I'm you know what?

:

00:51:04,583 --> 00:51:07,166

And here's the thing like,

:

00:51:07,166 --> 00:51:09,666

and you know me and I'm talk about this

all the time.

:

00:51:09,666 --> 00:51:14,375

You know, we have doing doing the things

that we've done in the past

:

00:51:14,375 --> 00:51:17,458

year, you know, and I'm definitely

leading the whole thing.

:

00:51:17,458 --> 00:51:17,916

You know what I mean?

:

00:51:17,916 --> 00:51:21,000

Like, you know, let's, let's, let's,

let's get this done and stuff.

:

00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:23,750

And we did it.

You know, it's been done. It's done.

:

00:51:23,750 --> 00:51:26,250

So now it's like, what are where

are we going in the future now with this?

:

00:51:26,250 --> 00:51:30,291

But the bar has been raised

and I think a lot of people out there,

:

00:51:30,291 --> 00:51:31,333

you going to try to do something.

:

00:51:31,333 --> 00:51:34,541

You definitely got to, you got to

you got to take it up the next level.

:

00:51:34,541 --> 00:51:36,250

Now you're right.

:

00:51:36,250 --> 00:51:39,625

I mean, you know, the debating on

who would be the next.

:

00:51:39,625 --> 00:51:40,166

You know what I mean?

:

00:51:40,166 --> 00:51:43,166

I mean, if should we say should we say,

should we say,

:

00:51:43,708 --> 00:51:45,666

should we say who

we think we should do it with?

:

00:51:45,666 --> 00:51:47,416

I, I personally, you know,

:

00:51:47,416 --> 00:51:51,375

well, I'll say it because I brought it up

and I think, you know, should I say it?

:

00:51:51,375 --> 00:51:52,583

Sure.

:

00:51:52,583 --> 00:51:54,000

Of course. Why not?

:

00:51:54,000 --> 00:51:56,208

I personally think. It's. Yeah. No.

:

00:51:56,208 --> 00:51:59,750

I personally think I personally think

the next one, honestly,

:

00:51:59,750 --> 00:52:00,708

we should bring common,

:

00:52:02,958 --> 00:52:05,541

here because, Common does.

:

00:52:05,541 --> 00:52:07,458

He does college.

He does colleges, you know.

:

00:52:07,458 --> 00:52:10,208

Know you know, he performed as well.

:

00:52:10,208 --> 00:52:11,750

He performed a great.

:

00:52:11,750 --> 00:52:15,625

You know,

he was in Moravian like 15 years ago.

:

00:52:16,333 --> 00:52:20,625

So yeah, he was at Moravian and stuff,

but that was he performed at that one.

:

00:52:20,625 --> 00:52:21,833

That was a no Q&A or nothing.

:

00:52:21,833 --> 00:52:24,833

But I think now where he's at,

:

00:52:24,875 --> 00:52:27,875

you know,

and you know what let's talk about,

:

00:52:28,500 --> 00:52:31,500

you know, why I came to that conclusion,

that conclusion of common

:

00:52:31,500 --> 00:52:35,291

is the fact of like with these Q&A is

you got to find someone

:

00:52:35,291 --> 00:52:39,083

who, you know, is the overall like,

who's it going to be?

:

00:52:39,166 --> 00:52:41,666

Is it going to appeal

not only to our age group,

:

00:52:41,666 --> 00:52:45,375

but is it also going to appeal

to the younger crowd who's it going to be?

:

00:52:45,916 --> 00:52:48,833

You know, is this person

going to be insightful in certain things?

:

00:52:48,833 --> 00:52:50,708

And I think common

:

00:52:51,708 --> 00:52:55,125

from the way I see common is the fact

that, you know,

:

00:52:55,125 --> 00:52:59,083

he literally has grown in our eyes

from every single.

:

00:52:59,125 --> 00:53:03,916

If you really look at his collection

of music alone, I mean, he went from,

:

00:53:04,541 --> 00:53:07,708

you know, being a, you know,

and he admitted he went from being a total

:

00:53:07,708 --> 00:53:12,291

drunken, blunt head

to, you know, where he's at any, any.

:

00:53:12,416 --> 00:53:14,833

And he shows that in every album

you could see the growth

:

00:53:14,833 --> 00:53:17,291

and the pattern of it

in every single album.

:

00:53:17,291 --> 00:53:20,541

You know, obviously resurrection

was like a straight up 180 from,

:

00:53:21,041 --> 00:53:24,041

from his, you know, can I borrow a dollar

and then obviously then,

:

00:53:24,625 --> 00:53:28,166

you know, he did,

you know, like water for chocolate

:

00:53:28,708 --> 00:53:29,208

and then,

:

00:53:29,208 --> 00:53:32,291

you know, then he did Electric Circus,

which is still his most left

:

00:53:32,291 --> 00:53:33,500

field shit ever.

:

00:53:33,500 --> 00:53:36,625

And then it's like, but then he came back

with beanie, and then,

:

00:53:37,083 --> 00:53:38,833

you know, you can see his growth.

:

00:53:38,833 --> 00:53:42,916

And then obviously becoming an actor

and being a successful actor at that.

:

00:53:42,916 --> 00:53:47,125

I mean, shit, you know,

where he's at in that position and stuff.

:

00:53:47,125 --> 00:53:49,000

And then you've also a bestselling

:

00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:51,208

writer and,

you know, the books that he's put out

:

00:53:51,208 --> 00:53:55,166

and the message that he still drops in

every single album is so universal.

:

00:53:55,166 --> 00:53:57,416

It's all about love. Now for like,

:

00:53:57,416 --> 00:54:00,416

everything he does, you know,

and the last couple of hours so dope.

:

00:54:00,416 --> 00:54:02,250

I personally think they were great.

:

00:54:02,250 --> 00:54:04,958

You know, some people might think

they were a little too late to talk.

:

00:54:04,958 --> 00:54:06,000

I think they were dope.

:

00:54:06,000 --> 00:54:07,791

And you know, he does this thing.

:

00:54:07,791 --> 00:54:10,416

He's still doing this, you know, to me

personally, still doing his thing.

:

00:54:10,416 --> 00:54:13,000

And he's still like he's dropped

freestyles

:

00:54:13,000 --> 00:54:16,083

lately on leakers and stuff

and he's killed it always killed.

:

00:54:16,750 --> 00:54:19,791

So I think common

would be like the perfect,

:

00:54:20,750 --> 00:54:24,000

fit of somebody that we should,

you know, try to bring out here

:

00:54:24,125 --> 00:54:27,750

as an as a cute

now ahm took it to that real next level.

:

00:54:27,750 --> 00:54:28,125

He's like,

:

00:54:28,125 --> 00:54:31,916

well, I just don't want to do a Q

and A, I want to do a Q&A and performance.

:

00:54:31,916 --> 00:54:34,333

And I'm like, well, yeah, hey, why not?

:

00:54:34,333 --> 00:54:35,041

You know what I mean?

:

00:54:35,041 --> 00:54:37,833

And I think common would be that, dude,

it'd be like, yeah, fuck it, let's do it.

:

00:54:37,833 --> 00:54:40,583

Let's do a Q and A in a performance.

I'm down, let's go.

:

00:54:40,583 --> 00:54:43,416

So I think comment

would be the perfect fit.

:

00:54:43,416 --> 00:54:46,791

So I think to get at like JB's

general question

:

00:54:46,791 --> 00:54:49,791

about raising the bar is like,

:

00:54:50,166 --> 00:54:52,583

you know, I, I mean, I've been doing

:

00:54:52,583 --> 00:54:56,750

since I was nine

and it's like I've been a part of like,

:

00:54:56,791 --> 00:55:01,166

you know, club scenes or like part of hip

hop groups and ciphers and so on.

:

00:55:01,166 --> 00:55:01,416

Like,

:

00:55:03,583 --> 00:55:04,250

I think

:

00:55:04,250 --> 00:55:08,583

all of those things, they're like

the bedrock of hip hop culture and

:

00:55:10,500 --> 00:55:12,791

I've been done doing them, and I'm cool.

:

00:55:12,791 --> 00:55:14,541

I'm cool with them,

and I'm gonna go visit them.

:

00:55:14,541 --> 00:55:17,416

And so but like, that's not where

I'm trying to show improve anymore.

:

00:55:17,416 --> 00:55:21,416

Like and it's not it's

just like I'm interested

:

00:55:21,791 --> 00:55:26,750

in things that bring

a, a wide group of people together.

:

00:55:26,750 --> 00:55:29,750

Because one of the things

that kind of like

:

00:55:30,625 --> 00:55:34,166

coming through this,

I would say I'm most proud of,

:

00:55:34,333 --> 00:55:39,375

so to speak, is that as best as we could,

every event we did somehow

:

00:55:39,416 --> 00:55:42,416

marry the four elements of hip

hop together.

:

00:55:43,250 --> 00:55:45,833

You know, sometimes all four,

sometimes just two.

:

00:55:45,833 --> 00:55:48,083

Whatever it was.

:

00:55:48,083 --> 00:55:51,791

And I think it's kind of

:

00:55:52,458 --> 00:55:56,750

that's when hip hop is its most dynamic

and most powerful when those things.

:

00:55:56,750 --> 00:55:59,333

I mean, think about how cap was sharing,

:

00:56:00,750 --> 00:56:01,791

where these

:

00:56:01,791 --> 00:56:05,333

words about being a graphic design

artist was so inspiring for him.

:

00:56:05,541 --> 00:56:06,833

You know what I mean?

:

00:56:06,833 --> 00:56:10,166

Where it's more than just rapping,

it's more than just like

:

00:56:10,333 --> 00:56:13,333

when these things get atomized,

they become weaker.

:

00:56:13,333 --> 00:56:16,333

And so I'm very much interested in

:

00:56:16,666 --> 00:56:19,541

in like developing

:

00:56:19,541 --> 00:56:22,375

platforms and spaces and events

:

00:56:22,375 --> 00:56:25,375

where we're experiencing

these things together.

:

00:56:25,416 --> 00:56:27,291

You know,

:

00:56:27,291 --> 00:56:29,791

everybody throws around that like,

you know, hip hop's a culture

:

00:56:29,791 --> 00:56:31,166

and it's like, yeah, that's right.

:

00:56:31,166 --> 00:56:32,250

You got to tend to that.

:

00:56:32,250 --> 00:56:34,166

Like it's a garden,

you know what I mean? You can't just.

:

00:56:34,166 --> 00:56:37,958

Yeah, it's not just like just words,

you know, like you're

:

00:56:38,125 --> 00:56:39,916

you have a responsibility to.

:

00:56:39,916 --> 00:56:44,000

And I think a big reason why,

you know I absolutely we

:

00:56:44,000 --> 00:56:48,250

we cap and I like sought you guys out

because we saw that you guys found

:

00:56:48,250 --> 00:56:52,583

something that you had a love

and a passion for hip hop and movies,

:

00:56:53,208 --> 00:56:56,291

and you were you were gonna,

you know, you weren't just it

:

00:56:56,333 --> 00:56:59,333

wasn't just a one off kind of thing,

like you were going to, like,

:

00:56:59,583 --> 00:57:02,583

explore that as as deep

and far as it can go.

:

00:57:02,666 --> 00:57:04,791

And that's, that's the kind of thing that,

:

00:57:06,291 --> 00:57:07,958

I'm down to kind of keep pursuing.

:

00:57:07,958 --> 00:57:10,708

I was like,

oh, this is happening in my backyard.

:

00:57:10,708 --> 00:57:12,416

I don't even know about it.

:

00:57:12,416 --> 00:57:15,416

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

:

00:57:15,541 --> 00:57:16,375

Capsule.

:

00:57:16,375 --> 00:57:18,833

Oh, I

:

00:57:18,833 --> 00:57:21,375

it's like I do it too, as far as you.

:

00:57:21,375 --> 00:57:22,833

Know, in new Jersey. That's crazy.

:

00:57:22,833 --> 00:57:25,833

And then like, look,

look what happens I, I lose, I lose that.

:

00:57:27,666 --> 00:57:28,791

You don't even understand.

:

00:57:28,791 --> 00:57:29,916

I'm there on Facebook.

:

00:57:29,916 --> 00:57:34,791

And next thing you know, I'm like hip

hop movie club now I saw it.

:

00:57:34,833 --> 00:57:37,541

And you always said

was hip hop movie club.

:

00:57:37,541 --> 00:57:39,833

And I said, oh, that's interesting.

:

00:57:39,833 --> 00:57:42,000

But then saw the post,

:

00:57:42,000 --> 00:57:44,583

I'm like, oh, they're having some thing

that's cool.

:

00:57:44,583 --> 00:57:46,458

Then I look at the address and I'm like,

wait, what?

:

00:57:46,458 --> 00:57:49,458

Grungy? Wait, what the hell?

:

00:57:49,583 --> 00:57:51,958

Yeah, this is happening.

:

00:57:54,625 --> 00:57:56,666

Because I don't even know that.

:

00:57:56,666 --> 00:57:59,666

That's like, what's going on here. So,

:

00:58:00,666 --> 00:58:03,666

my. First person I called was, yo.

:

00:58:06,291 --> 00:58:07,791

Boom club.

:

00:58:07,791 --> 00:58:10,791

So I what's.

:

00:58:11,375 --> 00:58:14,375

Interesting is that, like.

:

00:58:14,708 --> 00:58:15,375

You know what I'm saying?

:

00:58:15,375 --> 00:58:18,625

Like hip hop movie club,

you know, that's where like that

:

00:58:18,625 --> 00:58:22,541

you guys go into a space like that

to represent the culture.

:

00:58:22,875 --> 00:58:25,250

Like, you know what I'm saying?

:

00:58:25,250 --> 00:58:29,333

That's they think about wild style

and they the way that they went downtown

:

00:58:29,333 --> 00:58:32,333

and all those artists, like,

found a way to break out.

:

00:58:32,833 --> 00:58:34,791

That's that's what really interests me.

:

00:58:34,791 --> 00:58:37,041

Like, I'm,

:

00:58:37,041 --> 00:58:38,750

you know, I'm not I'm not trying to front

:

00:58:38,750 --> 00:58:41,750

or try to disrespect like the bedrock

:

00:58:42,208 --> 00:58:45,708

of, like, you know, hip hop

clubs and ciphers and things like that.

:

00:58:45,708 --> 00:58:48,416

But I'm also, you know, I'm,

:

00:58:49,791 --> 00:58:50,125

I'm like

:

00:58:50,125 --> 00:58:54,041

those those things, I don't know,

I like checking in on those things

:

00:58:54,041 --> 00:58:57,416

that keep you kind of like green or hungry

or what have you.

:

00:58:57,416 --> 00:59:02,541

But at the same time, I'm also interested

in like kind of evangelizing this shit,

:

00:59:02,541 --> 00:59:05,250

like taking this

to as many people as possible,

:

00:59:05,250 --> 00:59:06,916

because that's what I see Chuck doing.

:

00:59:06,916 --> 00:59:09,916

Chuck's like, you know, he's he's.

:

00:59:10,166 --> 00:59:12,750

Yeah. Like, I don't know.

You said it a few minutes ago.

:

00:59:12,750 --> 00:59:14,000

He's he's a worldly guy.

:

00:59:14,000 --> 00:59:16,375

Like, he's that's really inspiring to me.

:

00:59:16,375 --> 00:59:19,375

Like. You know.

:

00:59:19,458 --> 00:59:21,666

I love that

he was so complimentary of the area.

:

00:59:21,666 --> 00:59:24,875

And I like, I like beautiful

I hear you love Philadelphia.

:

00:59:24,875 --> 00:59:26,125

I was like, all right.

:

00:59:26,125 --> 00:59:26,333

Yeah.

:

00:59:26,333 --> 00:59:27,750

I think, you know,

:

00:59:27,750 --> 00:59:31,125

I think we've, we've

we've established with some of these folks

:

00:59:31,166 --> 00:59:32,291

we've worked with that

:

00:59:33,416 --> 00:59:34,333

we have

:

00:59:34,333 --> 00:59:39,083

we're not just like, you know, fans

like we have, we have one our own scene.

:

00:59:39,083 --> 00:59:42,750

Two, we have a profound respect, like,

you know what I mean?

:

00:59:43,416 --> 00:59:46,416

for what they do. And,

:

00:59:47,041 --> 00:59:50,125

pop, who was Chuck's security detail?

:

00:59:50,125 --> 00:59:52,333

You saw the dude

that was kind of shadowing him.

:

00:59:52,333 --> 00:59:55,333

He's a he's a former S1W like,

:

00:59:55,916 --> 01:00:00,750

you know, putting putting crack a smile

the whole whole night, you know?

:

01:00:00,750 --> 01:00:01,916

And that's not his job, right?

:

01:00:01,916 --> 01:00:03,833

Like,

his job is to keep his head on a swivel

:

01:00:03,833 --> 01:00:06,833

and just be aware of everything going on.

:

01:00:07,083 --> 01:00:10,083

And at the end of the night,

as they were leaving,

:

01:00:10,791 --> 01:00:12,750

I say my goodbye to pop,

and he said to me,

:

01:00:12,750 --> 01:00:15,958

he said, this is one of the best academic

hip hop events we've ever been to.

:

01:00:16,500 --> 01:00:18,041

And I was like, awesome.

:

01:00:18,041 --> 01:00:21,083

Well, if pop says it,

you know what I mean?

:

01:00:21,083 --> 01:00:24,708

Like, Chuck's probably going to say that

out of out of the kindness of his heart.

:

01:00:24,958 --> 01:00:29,000

But if pop said it, then we we discretion.

:

01:00:29,541 --> 01:00:33,083

And I think I think like that's

what I'm trying to do

:

01:00:33,083 --> 01:00:36,625

is show them

the respect of the effort, the

:

01:00:37,875 --> 01:00:39,291

the time and effort

:

01:00:39,291 --> 01:00:42,625

and sacrifice

they put into their music and the culture.

:

01:00:43,166 --> 01:00:46,166

We just we just try to give a little bit

back, you know, to show them.

:

01:00:46,166 --> 01:00:47,291

Yeah, you know.

:

01:00:47,291 --> 01:00:48,500

And that's how it should be done.

:

01:00:48,500 --> 01:00:53,041

Like I think that's definitely something

from here on out, any type of event that,

:

01:00:54,083 --> 01:00:56,875

you know, beer we come up with to, to do

:

01:00:56,875 --> 01:01:01,291

should definitely be also very respectful

to, I know that whatever artists

:

01:01:01,291 --> 01:01:04,708

we bring out here, the one thing is

you got to understand something like

:

01:01:05,125 --> 01:01:08,333

when these guys all started

and they were all going on tour,

:

01:01:08,875 --> 01:01:10,125

they were coming through here.

:

01:01:10,125 --> 01:01:12,416

They performed here like,

you know, all of them.

:

01:01:12,416 --> 01:01:13,750

Tribe, you know,

:

01:01:13,750 --> 01:01:16,666

I know tribe was out here, I know Dale,

I was here, black sheep was here.

:

01:01:16,666 --> 01:01:18,291

I know, you know.

:

01:01:18,291 --> 01:01:20,000

It's kind of his second show was at state.

:

01:01:20,000 --> 01:01:21,541

Yeah, you know what I mean?

:

01:01:21,541 --> 01:01:23,750

They were they they came through here, so.

:

01:01:23,750 --> 01:01:27,750

But they came through here during a time

when there was a lot of,

:

01:01:27,750 --> 01:01:30,916

you know, just fields of grass

and wheat and like,

:

01:01:30,916 --> 01:01:34,166

you know, the corn fields, like,

they didn't see that.

:

01:01:34,166 --> 01:01:36,750

Now the hustle

and bustle of what we are now.

:

01:01:36,750 --> 01:01:41,458

So I think coming them coming back

and now being like, oh,

:

01:01:41,458 --> 01:01:46,083

this same, you know, dress was just here,

you know, he was over at main gate

:

01:01:46,083 --> 01:01:49,625

and it was around the same time

we were doing our Dilla event and

:

01:01:51,208 --> 01:01:51,958

you know,

:

01:01:51,958 --> 01:01:54,875

I was trying to get dress to come through.

:

01:01:54,875 --> 01:01:57,625

but he had, you know,

he had the main gate stuff and whatever.

:

01:01:57,625 --> 01:02:01,041

But, you know, I hit him

up later on and he was like, yeah.

:

01:02:01,166 --> 01:02:03,416

so, you know, he did apologize,

you know, on my bad.

:

01:02:03,416 --> 01:02:05,125

I could have definitely sunk through,

but I couldn't,

:

01:02:05,125 --> 01:02:08,541

you know, I didn't really know

my time frame, but he had the same time.

:

01:02:08,541 --> 01:02:10,250

I was like,

yo, I'ma be real with you, though, man.

:

01:02:10,250 --> 01:02:12,541

You guys for for who?

:

01:02:12,541 --> 01:02:15,625

You know, for an area like you are,

you know, you guys are doing a lot.

:

01:02:15,750 --> 01:02:16,250

You know what I mean?

:

01:02:16,250 --> 01:02:18,500

Like, you are doing your thing

like you got things going on.

:

01:02:18,500 --> 01:02:21,041

So I mean, that's

that's the biggest thing.

:

01:02:21,041 --> 01:02:26,208

Like I think they, they never thought

that this area would grow as it grew.

:

01:02:26,208 --> 01:02:27,125

And it has we,

:

01:02:27,125 --> 01:02:30,458

you know, Lehigh Valley, even myself,

I moved out here when I was 15.

:

01:02:31,000 --> 01:02:32,250

You know, I'm 47 now.

:

01:02:32,250 --> 01:02:36,541

So I've been here a lot, you know, to

the point where I claim the Lehigh Valley.

:

01:02:36,541 --> 01:02:39,958

You know, I'm not like some dude who still

claiming, you know, New York and shit

:

01:02:41,083 --> 01:02:44,333

and, you

know, 30 plus years, you know what I mean?

:

01:02:44,333 --> 01:02:46,916

No, I'm still I'm a I'm

a Lehigh Valley head.

:

01:02:46,916 --> 01:02:50,875

And but the thing is, it's like,

you know, it's about showing them,

:

01:02:50,875 --> 01:02:52,500

you know, hey, we're not to be slept on.

:

01:02:52,500 --> 01:02:54,958

And I mean, you know,

from a DJ standpoint,

:

01:02:54,958 --> 01:02:58,250

you know, a lot of deejays,

a lot of deejays and whatnot.

:

01:02:58,250 --> 01:03:00,208

And I'm telling you,

I've heard it from a lot.

:

01:03:00,208 --> 01:03:03,791

They all tell me we have the most hardest.

:

01:03:04,666 --> 01:03:08,000

We are the hardest spot for them

to come through and bless and bless.

:

01:03:08,666 --> 01:03:11,500

So a lot of us DJ DJs amongst

:

01:03:11,500 --> 01:03:15,833

deejays from Philly, New York, Jersey,

whatever, like they show us

:

01:03:15,833 --> 01:03:20,333

a lot of respect because

when they come over here like it's tough.

:

01:03:20,333 --> 01:03:23,333

They they say it, they're like

we're the toughest crowds to please.

:

01:03:23,666 --> 01:03:27,791

So when you know and they when they rock

with us, they're like, damn you guys.

:

01:03:28,375 --> 01:03:29,750

You guys really hold it down.

:

01:03:29,750 --> 01:03:31,250

So you know that.

:

01:03:31,250 --> 01:03:35,541

So for the so for us to represent

the valley that way, you know, I mean we

:

01:03:35,750 --> 01:03:39,000

we need to come across and definitely,

you know, raise the bar on everything

:

01:03:39,416 --> 01:03:42,041

you know and show these people

that, you know, we're not just we're not

:

01:03:42,041 --> 01:03:45,208

we're not just a middle thing

between New York and, you know,

:

01:03:45,250 --> 01:03:46,916

Philly or whatever, like,

:

01:03:46,916 --> 01:03:49,791

you know, we got to be recognized

now and people are recognizing us.

:

01:03:49,791 --> 01:03:53,125

So I think that's

that's the next step to that.

:

01:03:53,125 --> 01:03:56,791

You know, especially with hip hop culture,

there's artists out here that have done

:

01:03:56,791 --> 01:03:59,875

things are people that are doing things,

you know.

:

01:03:59,875 --> 01:04:03,208

So I think we've

we got to start elevating that up. So

:

01:04:04,375 --> 01:04:06,833

and you know

we've been we've been doing it man I yeah.

:

01:04:06,833 --> 01:04:09,833

Should you know my crew alone

stick figures back in the day.

:

01:04:10,291 --> 01:04:11,083

You know what I mean.

:

01:04:11,083 --> 01:04:13,541

I mean should we open for the Fugees.

:

01:04:13,541 --> 01:04:14,666

You know.

:

01:04:14,666 --> 01:04:16,583

And then it's like,

you know, things like that.

:

01:04:16,583 --> 01:04:17,458

You know, there's other people

:

01:04:17,458 --> 01:04:20,458

that have done other stuff

too, and it's just some, you know,

:

01:04:20,625 --> 01:04:22,250

that stuff that now has to be

put out there.

:

01:04:22,250 --> 01:04:25,250

I think we got

I think we should just do a documentary.

:

01:04:25,666 --> 01:04:27,125

I think, I.

:

01:04:27,125 --> 01:04:30,291

Think a documentary should be done

on like basically what the hip

:

01:04:30,291 --> 01:04:31,500

hop scene has been out here.

:

01:04:31,500 --> 01:04:35,625

So a lot of stories, a lot of,

you know, legends, you know, local,

:

01:04:36,166 --> 01:04:37,083

be it and everything.

:

01:04:37,083 --> 01:04:39,500

But I think everybody

got their flowers. So.

:

01:04:44,541 --> 01:04:47,541

The documentary

happy and we can screen it at the, Yeah.

:

01:04:47,875 --> 01:04:48,583

You know.

:

01:04:48,583 --> 01:04:51,291

I give my son on the project, he's

he's studying film.

:

01:04:51,291 --> 01:04:52,000

So like that

:

01:04:52,000 --> 01:04:55,416

you mentioned something about

I do something about hip hop movie girls.

:

01:04:55,416 --> 01:04:58,583

Yeah, I was, I talked to Army cap

because these guys have stories

:

01:04:58,583 --> 01:05:01,583

and doing it,

so maybe there's something there.

:

01:05:03,250 --> 01:05:05,125

Awesome.

:

01:05:05,125 --> 01:05:08,250

What's so,

what's next for 50 years down the line.

:

01:05:08,250 --> 01:05:10,916

Aam what what's next.

:

01:05:10,916 --> 01:05:15,333

Besides you know the potential that you

guys just mentioned for for for comment.

:

01:05:15,333 --> 01:05:17,375

Yeah I mean anything else directly.

:

01:05:17,375 --> 01:05:18,625

Thank you.

:

01:05:18,625 --> 01:05:22,791

We're we're planting seeds on

like you know could we somehow replicate

:

01:05:24,375 --> 01:05:26,833

or even take what we did with Chuck D

:

01:05:26,833 --> 01:05:30,541

to a next level knowing,

you know, also knowing that it

:

01:05:31,166 --> 01:05:34,583

it would take a year or two

to like put something like that together

:

01:05:34,583 --> 01:05:36,583

because it took a year

to put this together. Right.

:

01:05:38,333 --> 01:05:39,750

I would say most immediate I'm

:

01:05:39,750 --> 01:05:43,000

trying to ride the coattails

on, have you heard of the hip hop movie,

:

01:05:44,291 --> 01:05:47,125

podcast August.

:

01:05:47,125 --> 01:05:47,875

All right.

:

01:05:47,875 --> 01:05:52,500

House party, will be

there will be there, for for house party.

:

01:05:52,500 --> 01:05:55,041

It still stacks, deejaying and so on.

:

01:05:55,041 --> 01:05:57,291

I'm really looking forward to that.

:

01:05:57,291 --> 01:06:00,416

You guys have, more than one

movie there, right?

:

01:06:00,416 --> 01:06:03,416

You have a couple other dates

this year? Yep.

:

01:06:03,833 --> 01:06:05,791

Yeah. September.

:

01:06:05,791 --> 01:06:08,333

we'll be doing eight mile,

:

01:06:08,333 --> 01:06:11,791

wood in November will be doing Boyz n

the hood or,

:

01:06:11,875 --> 01:06:14,833

we're not announcing the exact dates yet

because some of the stuff

:

01:06:14,833 --> 01:06:17,958

might shift, but but, yeah,

we have three more movies this year.

:

01:06:18,166 --> 01:06:20,250

That's great.

:

01:06:20,250 --> 01:06:20,500

yeah.

:

01:06:20,500 --> 01:06:23,500

I mean, I think I, I.

:

01:06:23,583 --> 01:06:24,541

I'm looking forward to working.

:

01:06:24,541 --> 01:06:28,041

With you guys on that, that stuff and kind

of, I don't know, reverse the roles

:

01:06:28,041 --> 01:06:32,541

a little bit, you know, and watch you guys

take this, to where you want it to go.

:

01:06:32,583 --> 01:06:34,791

And I'll play the role of soldier and,

:

01:06:37,625 --> 01:06:40,916

and just, you know, I also have to chill

a little bit,

:

01:06:40,916 --> 01:06:44,000

like, for real,

you needed the things you have to say.

:

01:06:44,000 --> 01:06:45,333

A little bit like I.

:

01:06:45,333 --> 01:06:47,791

Yes, it's all it's it's wild.

:

01:06:47,791 --> 01:06:50,541

It's been a decompression

over the last week.

:

01:06:50,541 --> 01:06:53,666

I just I bet so, you know, I don't do pig.

:

01:06:54,083 --> 01:06:58,291

I really, really like,

I mean, all the things we've done

:

01:06:58,291 --> 01:07:01,666

and I'm proud of them and and Chuck D's

my dude.

:

01:07:02,000 --> 01:07:07,125

It's also like really relaxing

not to have to worry about like, like,

:

01:07:07,375 --> 01:07:11,333

do we have the right meal in the green

room for Chuck D and his security detail?

:

01:07:11,458 --> 01:07:12,041

You know what I mean?

:

01:07:12,041 --> 01:07:15,125

Like, these are the things that kept me up

for the last two weeks.

:

01:07:15,125 --> 01:07:18,041

And it's like, yeah, this is all done.

You know, the you know. Yeah.

:

01:07:20,750 --> 01:07:21,000

Yeah.

:

01:07:21,000 --> 01:07:21,333

Well, yeah.

:

01:07:21,333 --> 01:07:24,041

I mean, I used to run away from my Ryder,

so I get it.

:

01:07:24,041 --> 01:07:26,791

It was,

you know, those memes of the right color,

:

01:07:26,791 --> 01:07:29,791

you know?

:

01:07:30,625 --> 01:07:32,458

But I mean, it's it's it's it's great.

:

01:07:32,458 --> 01:07:35,458

It's really, it's really great. You.

:

01:07:35,875 --> 01:07:39,541

And doing something like this helps me

kind of unwind and get perspective on it.

:

01:07:39,541 --> 01:07:41,666

And I appreciate all the things

you guys have said about it.

:

01:07:41,666 --> 01:07:44,083

Really, really do.

:

01:07:44,083 --> 01:07:48,208

doing it for you just as much as well

as the coaches for for the friendship.

:

01:07:48,291 --> 01:07:51,291

You know, it's

what makes it makes it all good.

:

01:07:53,416 --> 01:07:54,500

Yeah.

:

01:07:54,500 --> 01:07:56,166

we're just like,

I can't believe it's there.

:

01:07:56,166 --> 01:07:58,166

We haven't even known you guys

for a full year.

:

01:07:58,166 --> 01:07:59,333

That was June of last year.

:

01:07:59,333 --> 01:08:01,375

Well,

we met you at, at that library event,

:

01:08:01,375 --> 01:08:03,833

so crazy amount of stuff

we've collaborated

:

01:08:03,833 --> 01:08:06,958

on, and it's only growing,

so thanks for including us.

:

01:08:06,958 --> 01:08:09,208

We never thought we'd be rubbing

elbows with Chuck D

:

01:08:09,208 --> 01:08:11,583

when we started this a couple years ago.

Right.

:

01:08:11,583 --> 01:08:14,375

Well, this is outrageous.

I still want that.

:

01:08:14,375 --> 01:08:16,166

Yeah. You guys did. You gave away.

:

01:08:18,500 --> 01:08:19,125

Oh, yeah.

:

01:08:19,125 --> 01:08:21,750

Yeah.

:

01:08:21,750 --> 01:08:22,916

Yeah. It was.

:

01:08:22,916 --> 01:08:25,250

That was Chuck. The.

:

01:08:25,250 --> 01:08:26,083

Digital signature.

:

01:08:26,083 --> 01:08:29,083

Yeah.

:

01:08:29,291 --> 01:08:29,791

All right.

:

01:08:29,791 --> 01:08:30,916

Thanks, guys.

:

01:08:30,916 --> 01:08:31,375

Yeah.

:

01:08:31,375 --> 01:08:34,375

Thank you, thank you.

:

01:08:36,000 --> 01:08:37,416

it was a pleasure.

:

01:08:37,416 --> 01:08:40,416

Come on.

:

01:08:48,083 --> 01:08:48,458

Come on.

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About the Podcast

Hip Hop Movie Club
Harmonizing the rhythm of hip hop with the magic of movies
Upcoming Hip Hop Movie Club events:

Feb 5 - Breakin' screening
https://www.steelstacks.org/event/16710/breakin/

HHMC is brought to you by a trio of longtime hip hop fans: JB, an 80s and 90s nostalgia junkie, BooGie, a veteran DJ and graffiti artist, and DynoWright, podcaster and filmmaker.

Buy some merch: https://meteorwright.one/shop

More events to be announced! Subscribe to our newsletter and get updated on events: https://hiphopmovieclub.substack.com/